Eyes on Bahia (Correio, Salvador, Bahia)

Datami, an American provider of solutions for mobile sponsored data, sees the small companies of Bahia and the Northeast of Brazil, as the springboard that will allow it to continue its fast paced growth in the Country. Mariana Oliveira, Datami’s Business Development Director – LATAM, in an interview with Coluna, said that because in the Brazilian market the majority of the customers pay for a limited package of mobile data, to offer free Internet browsing attracts new clients and creates loyalty.

This strategy is already identified by large banks, which through agreements with phone operators, pay for 100% of the data used by clients to navigate their mobile channels. “They [the banks] noticed that it costs less to pay for the data used by a client than having this client at a branch”, says Oliveira, explaining that the sponsored data concept is nothing more than the migration of the 800 toll-free numbers to the digital world.

Datami, operating in Brazil for two years, offers solutions for these 800 number tools and gets paid by brands for the traffic generated on their apps. Still according to Oliveira, Datami is present in 15 countries and has already offered sponsored data solutions to 50 million people. In Brazil, the company currently has 40 clients, including banks and large retail brands. “[The market in Bahia] is promising because it is highly dependent on Wi-Fi to access the Internet. It’s a scenario in which someone with a limited mobile data package has to choose how to use the data. The client tends to prefer store sites or e-commerce apps that offer free navigation”, said Oliveira.